Texas Instruments Introduces Rugged Encapsulated Tag for Harsh Process Environments

Texas Instruments Introduces Rugged Encapsulated Tag for Harsh Process Environments

February 06, 2007

Company Adds Overmolded RFID Transponder to Its High
Frequency Product Line 


    DALLAS, Feb. 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments
Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) today introduced its
Overmolded (OM) transponder family comprised of the most
rugged RFID tags in its portfolio of ISO 15693 compliant
transponders.  The OM tags are designed to withstand
extreme environments where temperature, high pressure and
harsh chemicals inhibit the performance of line-of-sight
automatic identification technologies such as bar codes and
other less robust RFID tags.   With their durability and
small, 22 mm circular dimensions, TI's 13.56 MHz OM tags
provide increased read performance compared with
competitive offerings for applications ranging from
industrial laundry and textile rental to process industries
such as perishable foods.

    (Logo:
http://www.xprn.com.cn/xprn/sa/20061107170439-20.jpg )

    TI's OM tags are available in two memory options: a 2K
bit version with the option for higher functionality and
security features and a 256 bit version for customers who
require less memory.  With two options from TI, customers
have the flexibility to choose the tag best suited to their
particular needs.  In addition, the tag packaging is
optimized for mechanical robustness so that each tag can be
reused hundreds of times in physically demanding
environments.  For example, the 13.56 MHz tags are capable
of enduring more than 200 industrial laundry wash cycles. 


    "TI's latest RFID transponders, with solid
overmolded casing, are effective in one of the harshest
applications that RFID is used for: laundry," said
Jeff Markman, President of Positek, a leading RFID systems
integrator for laundry applications.  "The extended
read range enabled by the 22mm size provides for more
efficient reading of large bundles of clothing." 

    TI's 2K bit overmolded tag is already at work in
various applications such as the tracking of 130,000 staff
garments in the laundry service at one of Norway's top
hospitals, St Olavs University Hospital in Trondheim.  A
case study on this customer application is now available on
TI's website at
http://www.ti.com/rfid/shtml/news-casestudies-02-01-07.shtml
.  

    In addition, a milk producer is currently using TI's 2K
bit OM tag to identify test vials of milk samples for the
purpose of controlling and tracking the complete chain of
quality inspection.  Each vial includes an RFID transponder
and must be correctly identified as it passes through a
number of safety checks in a variety of harsh testing
environments.  Using TI's tags, the accuracy and safety of
these checks are increased, and the reusability of the tag
makes it more cost-effective.  

    "The durability of TI's new overmolded
transponder, combined with the flexibility of two memory
options and improved read performance, enables companies to
select the best tag for their specific application and work
environment," said Ulrich Denk, RFID product marketing
manager for TI. 

    The 13.56 MHz Overmolded RFID tags are available in a
read/write format and compatible with the ISO/IEC 15693 and
ISO/IEC 18000-3 global standards.  For more information,
visit http://www.ti.com/rfid/shtml/prod-trans.shtml .

    About Texas Instruments

    Texas Instruments is the world's largest integrated
manufacturer of radio frequency identification (RFID)
transponders and reader systems. Capitalizing on its
competencies in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing and
microelectronics packaging, TI is a visionary leader and at
the forefront of establishing new markets and international
standards for RFID applications. For more information,
contact TI-RFid(TM) Systems at 1-800-962-RFID (7343) (North
America) or [phone] (International), or visit the
Web site at http://www.ti-rfid.com .

    Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP
and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world
signal processing requirements.  In addition to
Semiconductor, the company includes the Education
Technology business.  TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas,
and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more
than 25 countries.

    Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located
on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com .

    Trademarks

    Tag-it and TI-RFid are trademarks of Texas Instruments.
 All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property
of their respective owners.



    For more information, please contact:

    Media Contacts:

     Jamie Horton
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Kim Novino
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]   


SOURCE  Texas Instruments